The celebrations continued today when Key received the prestigious Evening Standard Cricketer of the Month award for May, a bronze statuette plus a magnum of Veuve Cliquot champagne.
"I'm very proud to have won this award," said Key. "When you have had such a bad season you learn a hell of a lot more about yourself. I really struggled last year and I knew I had to take a hard look at myself.
"I worked hard in the winter nets on some technical faults and did a lot of fitness work. Then after Christmas I spent a month in Australia. I saw Justin Langer's batting coach and then trained with a few of the Kent boys. I'll never be the most athletic-looking bloke but I'm a hell of a lot fitter than I was at 19 or 20."
Key is not surprised by Strauss's smooth transition from county to Test batsman. "I know Straussy quite well as we went on an England Academy tour together. He's been churning out scores for three or four years and he has learned a lot from a lot of people, particularly Langer when he was at Middlesex.
I know I learned more about the game on a three-month Ashes tour of Australia than I've learned in the whole of my career."
As for his own Test ambitions, Key is keeping his feet on the ground. He said: "It's nice to see your name being mentioned for England but I know how easily it can change. I must keep going and make sure this is not just a purple patch."
